The Marenon Chronicles Collection - By Jason D. Morrow Page 0,181

second swing and attacked the same leg, causing it to crumble underneath its bearer. The statue was resilient and continued to flail from the ground, but Silas moved to its side and chopped downward like an ax, crushing its midsection into pieces.

Eight left.

He was glad to see that the others were staying behind, knowing that if they were seen, the statues would destroy them. The other eight statues were frantic now, searching for their invisible enemy, but Silas was too fast, jumping from side to side, taking mighty swings with his war hammer. One-by-one the statues fell to their invisible enemy. Once or twice, a few swings came too close to Silas, nearly taking him out. There were only two left when he became so exhausted from swinging the heavy hammer that he had to rest. The statues swung from side to side as if they were swatting a fly. Silas stood at a safe distance, watching the foolish-looking statues, and for a brief moment he smiled. He placed a hand on his knee and looked down at his feet. He was dirty from all of the crumpled rock and dust. Then the thought struck him.

Why can I see my feet?

His held jolted up to see the two statues coming right for him. Inga’s concentration must have broken.

“Inga!” he yelled, knowing that it would not help her to continue the magic. Kaden and Lorcan were down with him now, throwing rocks at one of the statues to get its attention. The distraction worked, leaving Silas only one statue to deal with, but one opponent was formidable enough.

The statue swung low and Silas instinctively dropped to the ground. It swung back again, this time slamming the end of its stone sword against the wall, shattering its weapon into pieces. With the broken remains, it reached upward for momentum to smash the hilt into Silas, but he rolled out of the way in the last second. The statue wasn’t finished, however. It brought its large foot up to stomp the life out of Silas. He rolled one more time, knowing that he could not continue this game.

He jumped to his feet, dipping low to avoid the statue’s flailing arms. With two steps he was able to maneuver behind the statue and slam his war hammer into the back of the leg, behind the knee. A large chunk crumbled from the leg, but the statue was oblivious. It stomped with its other leg then once again with the one Silas had ruptured. With the second stomp, it fell to the ground, arms still swinging in every direction. Silas was able to stop one of the arms with his hammer, but he was caught by the second swing, which sent him sailing to the opposite wall.

The hammer fell from his hands and instantly turned back into the staff. The pain through his chest where the statue’s arm had landed had knocked the wind out of him, and it was everything Silas could do to grab hold of a breath. The statue couldn’t walk, but it was able to crawl using its one good arm and leg. It made its way slowly toward Silas determined to destroy him with what little life it had left. Silas was still trying to catch a breath and the others were still preoccupied with the other statue.

That’s when he saw Inga emerge from her hiding place behind the rock. She staggered down the steps, clearly exhausted from the magic, and closed her eyes once again, becoming transfixed in concentration. Silas knew she had lost much of her strength by keeping him invisible for so long. A burst of energy exploded from her hands, throwing the statue that Kaden and Lorcan had been fighting against the wall. Its arms broke off from the impact, but it still stood. She let out another burst, finally finishing the enchanted stone.

She was spent, Silas knew. He closed his own eyes, trying everything in his power to summon the green shield around him so the two-limbed stone couldn’t smash him. He had never truly been able to conjure the energy that Inga had taught him. He thought of nothing but the magic, trying to allow it to flow through him, but to no avail. He couldn’t even get a flicker of the green shield around him. He was a magical failure and it would be his undoing. The statue was basically on top of him. As it reared back its massive arm to crush